Measurement control method, user equipment and network-side device

ABSTRACT

A measurement control method, a UE, and a network-side device are provided to solve the problem in the prior art that no measurement control solution can ensure the UE to perform a measurement and obtain a measurement result in time, as well as reduce the impact of the measurement on the performance of the UE. The method includes the following steps. The UE receives measurement indication information provided by the network side; and the UE performs a measurement after determining that the UE needs to perform the measurement according to the measurement indication information, which ensures that the UE may not perform the measurement frequently but pertinently, and reduces the impact of the measurement on the performance of the UE to the utmost extent.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2008/070802, filed on Apr. 25, 2008, which claims priority toChinese Patent Application Nos. 200710137560.1, filed on Aug. 7, 2007,and 200710074199.2, filed on Apr. 30, 2007; both of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, andmore particularly to a measurement control method, user equipment and anetwork-side device for realizing the method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that, an overload problem possibly occurs in actualoperations of networks for wireless communication systems such as auniversal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS). In the case ofoverloading, in order to guarantee the quality of service (QoS) forcurrently connected users, new users are usually restricted fromaccessing the network, or relocated to frequency layers or radio accesstechnologies (RATs) different from the current service cell.

The relocation of the users is mainly realized through a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) connection setup message or an RRC connection rejectmessage during an RRC connection setup process, or realized through anRRC connection setup/release message during an RRC connection releaseprocess.

In the current technical solution, user equipment (UE) carries ameasurement result of the frequency layer used or unused by the UE in anRRC connection request message to be sent to the network side.Therefore, when the network side needs to make a relocation indicationfor the UE, the network side may indicate the UE to be relocated to anappropriate frequency layer according to the measurement result reportedby the UE.

The network side may not only indicate the UE to be relocated todifferent frequency layers, but also indicate the UE to be relocated todifferent RATs. However, the current relocation indication for the RATin the UMTS is a blind indication. That is to say, the current UE doesnot measure the RAT, and thus does not have any RAT related measurementresult that can be sent to the network side. Therefore, the network sidehas no support of the RAT measurement data when performing the RATrelocation indication.

In order to solve the problem about RAT blind indication in relocation,the UE is configured to perform an inter radio access technology (IRAT)handover measurement once before sending the RRC connection requestmessage, and carry the measurement result in the RRC connection requestmessage for being reported to the network side.

During the implementation of the disclosure, the inventor(s) found thatthe prior art has at least the following technical problems. Though theprior art may eliminate the RAT blind indication in relocation, thefollowing two problems occurs.

1. The processing in the prior art may affect the call setup performanceof the UE. The reason is that, during the time period from initiating acall setup request each time by the UE to sending an RRC connectionrequest message to a base station (BS), the UE must perform an IRATmeasurement, which inevitably extends the call setup delay.

2. The UE usually performs unnecessary measurements and reports. The UEhas no idea whether the network side relocates the UE after a call isinitiated, so the UE needs to make a measurement each time beforesending the RRC connection request message, and report a measurementresult. Generally, the network side does not need to frequently relocatethe UE, and thus the UE has made many unnecessary measurement and reporttasks.

In addition, the requirements of automatic network configuration andoptimization are proposed in a long term evolution (LTE) system. Inorder to support the automatic network optimization, the UE needs toperform some additional measurements to provide the measurement data tothe network side, so as to enable the network side to perform dataaccumulation for network configuration and optimization. Moreover, inorder to obtain the measurement data of the network in a complicatedenvironment, the measurement and report triggered by the UE based oncertain information are also needed.

In view of the above, the wireless communication system requires the UEto perform more information measurement, but currently no measurementcontrol solution is able to reduce the impact of the measurement on theperformance of the UE to the utmost extent while ensuring that the UEprovides the measurement result to the network side in time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in order to solve the above technical problems, theembodiments of present invention are directed to a measurement controlmethod, so as to reduce the impact of the measurement on the performanceof the UE to the utmost extent when the UE provides a measurement resultto a network side.

Furthermore, the embodiments of present invention are also directed to aUE that implements a measurement control.

The embodiments of present invention are also directed to a network-sidedevice that implements a measurement control.

In order to solve the above problems, the following technical solutionsare provided in the embodiments of the present invention.

A measurement control method is provided in an embodiment of the presentinvention. The method includes the following steps.

A UE receives measurement indication information provided by a networkside.

The UE determines that the UE needs to perform a measurement accordingto the measurement indication information, and then performs ameasurement process.

A UE is provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The UEincludes a receiving module, a determining module, and a measuringmodule.

The receiving module is adapted to receive measurement indicationinformation provided by a network side, and send the measurementindication information to the determining module.

The determining module is adapted to determine whether the UE needs toperform a measurement or not according to the received measurementindication information, and send notification information to notify themeasuring module to perform a measurement process if it is determinedthat the UE needs to perform a measurement.

The measuring module is adapted to perform a measurement processaccording to the received notification information.

A network-side device is provided in an embodiment of the presentinvention. The device includes an indication information providingmodule.

The indication information providing module is adapted to determinemeasurement indication information required to be sent to a UE, and sendthe determined measurement indication information to the UE.

The network-side device is adapted to determine measurement indicationinformation required to be sent to the UE, and send the determinedmeasurement indication information to the UE.

The UE is adapted to receive the measurement indication informationprovided by the network side, determine whether the UE needs to performa measurement or not according to the measurement indicationinformation, and perform a measurement process after determining thatthe UE needs to perform a measurement.

In the embodiments of the present invention, the UE performs ameasurement process only after receiving indication information from thenetwork side and determining that the UE needs to perform a measurementaccording to the indication information. Hence the UE is able to performa measurement meeting the requirements of the network side, andmeanwhile it is ensured that the UE may perform a pertinent measurementinstead of the one of high frequency and reduce the impact of themeasurement on the performance of the UE to the utmost extent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become better understood from the detaileddescription given herein below for illustration only, and thus is notlimitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1A is a flow chart illustrating an implementation according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a flow chart illustrating another implementation according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a UE according to an embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a wireless communication systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages ofthe present invention comprehensible, embodiments are described indetail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A shows an implementation process of a method according to anembodiment of the present invention. The method includes the followingsteps.

In step 101, a UE receives measurement indication information providedby a network side.

The measurement indication information provided by the network side isadapted to indicate whether the UE needs to perform a measurementprocess, wherein the measurement indication information may be sent bythe network side to the UE through broadcasting and downlink signaling.

Specifically, the indication information may be load-related indicationinformation from the network side, service-related indicationinformation, or other types of information, and may include varioustypes of indication information at the same time.

In step 102, the UE determines that the UE needs to perform ameasurement according to the measurement indication informationreceived, and then performs a measurement process.

The measurement process may be set according to actual requirements. Forexample, the measurement process is one selected from a group consistingof intra-frequency measurement, inter-frequency measurement, andinter-RAT measurement.

In this step, the UE performs a measurement process only after receivingthe measurement indication information from the network side anddetermining that the UE needs to perform a measurement according to themeasurement indication information, so that the UE is able to perform ameasurement according to requirements of the network side. Therefore, itis ensured that the UE may not perform the measurement frequently butpertinently, and the impact of the measurement on the performance of theUE is reduced to the utmost extent.

Furthermore, after step 102, as shown in FIG. 1B, step 103 may befurther added, i.e., the UE sends a measurement result to the networkside. The UE may notify the network of the measurement result bycarrying the measurement result in signaling, or directly notify thenetwork through dedicated signaling, or notify the network through L1/L2control signaling or through an MAC header. Certainly, other sendingmanners may also be adopted, as long as it is ensured that themeasurement result is notified to the network.

In view of the above, in step 101, the UE may receive various types ofmeasurement indication information, in which the specificimplementations corresponding to the load-related indication informationand the service-related indication information are respectivelyillustrated below in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2.

Embodiment 1

If the indication information provided by the network side isload-related, in step 102 that the UE determines, according to thereceived measurement indication information specifically, that the UEneeds to perform a measurement includes: determining whether the networkside is currently overloaded or not according to the load-relatedindication information, and if the network side is currently overloaded,determining that the UE needs to perform a measurement.

Specifically, the load-related indication information provided by thenetwork side may be a load condition indicator or simply an overloadindicator. If the load-related indication information is a loadcondition indicator, the load condition indicator may be an actual loadvalue or a load rating indicator. Also the load condition indicator maybe indication information corresponding to the load value or loadrating. For example, an identifier corresponding to the load value orload rating is configured, and when the load-related indicationinformation is required, the load value and load rating may not bedirectly provided, and instead, corresponding indication informationthereof, i.e., the identifier corresponding to the load value or loadrating, is provided.

If the load-related indication information is an overload indicator, instep 102, the UE directly determines that the network side is currentlyoverloaded according to the overload indicator, and thus determines thatthe UE needs to perform a measurement.

If the load-related indication information is a load conditionindicator, in step 102, the UE determines a load value or load rating ofthe current load according to the load condition indicator, and comparesthe load value or load rating with a load threshold. If the load valueor load rating exceeds the load threshold, the network side isoverloaded, and the UE determines that the UE needs to perform ameasurement. The load threshold may be set by the UE or by the networkside. If the load threshold is set by the network side, the network sideneeds to notify the UE of the load threshold through broadcasting,signaling, or other manners.

In Embodiment 1, the network side notifies the UE of the load-relatedindication information, and the UE determines whether the UE needs toperform a measurement or not according to the load-related indicationinformation, so as to enable the network side to obtain the measurementresult from the UE whenever necessary. Therefore, it is ensured that theUE may not perform the measurement frequently but pertinently, and theimpact of the measurement on the performance of the UE is reduced to theutmost extent. If the network side needs to perform an RAT relocation onthe UE when the load exceeds the preset threshold, the RAT relocation isperformed according to measurement result received from the UE. Thenetwork side may also perform network configuration and optimizationaccording to the measurement result received from the UE, and makeanalysis according to the measurement result received in a complicatedenvironment.

Embodiment 2

If the information provided by the network side is service-relatedindication information, in step 102 that the UE determines, according tothe measurement indication information received, that the UE needs toperform a measurement specifically includes: determining whetherservice-related information at the network side and service informationof the UE satisfies a preset relationship or not according to theservice-related indication information, and if service-relatedinformation at the network side and service information of the UEsatisfies a preset relationship, determining that the UE needs toperform a measurement.

The service-related indication information provided by the network maybe related information indicating services supported by the currentnetwork under the indication of the network side, for example, serviceidentity (ID) information or differentiation indication informationabout the service information. In addition, the differentiationindication information includes, for example, a priority indicator, alevel indicator, and a combination thereof.

If the service-related indication information is service indicationinformation, in step 102, the UE determines services supported by thenetwork side according to the service indication information, andcompares to see whether services of the UE are consistent with theservices supported by the network side or not. If services of the UE arenot consistent with the services supported by the network side, theservices at both sides are determined to meet the above presetrelationship, i.e., the UE needs to perform a measurement when theservices of the UE are not consistent with the services supported by thenetwork side.

If the service-related indication information is differentiationindication information such as a priority indicator and/or a levelindicator, in step 102, the UE determines a relationship between theservices of the UE and the services supported by the network sideaccording to the differentiation indication information, and determineswhether the relationship conforms to a preset relationship or notaccording to a preset policy. In particular, when the priority and/orlevel indicator of the services of the UE is higher than the servicessupported by the network side, it is determined that the services atboth sides satisfy the preset relationship, so that the UE needs toperform a measurement. Alternatively, when the priority and/or levelindicator of the services of the UE is lower than the services supportedby the network side, it is determined that the services at both sidessatisfy the preset relationship, so that the UE needs to perform ameasurement.

If the service-related indication information includes both the serviceindication information and the differentiation indication information,in step 102, it is first determined whether the services of the UE areconsistent with the services supported by the network side or not, andif the services of the UE are not consistent with the services supportedby the network side, it is directly determined that the UE needs toperform a measurement; otherwise, a relationship between the services ofthe UE and the services supported by the network side needs to bedetermined. According to a preset policy, when the priority and/or levelindicator of the services of the UE is higher than the servicessupported by the network side, a measurement is performed;alternatively, when the priority and/or level indicator of the servicesof the UE is lower than the services supported by the network side, ameasurement is performed. Certainly, other processing manners may alsobe set according to actual requirements, which are performed based onsimilar principles and may not be described herein again.

In Embodiment 2, the network side notifies the UE of the service-relatedindication information, and the UE determines whether the UE needs toperform a measurement or not according to the service-related indicationinformation, so as to enable the network side to obtain the measurementresult from the UE whenever necessary. Therefore, it is ensured that theUE may not perform the measurement frequently but pertinently, and theimpact of the measurement on the performance of the UE is reduced to theutmost extent. When the network side needs to perform an RAT relocationon the UE, the RAT relocation is performed according to the receivedmeasurement result. The network side may also perform networkconfiguration and optimization according to the received measurementresult, and make analysis according to the received measurement resultin a complicated environment.

Furthermore, in view of the above, the indication information providedby the network side may include both the load-related indicationinformation and the service-related indication information, and in thiscase, different processing policies may be configured depending uponactual requirements. For example, in one processing policy, in step 102,upon receiving the indication information, the UE first determines thecurrent specific load condition according to the received load-relatedindication information. If it is determined that the current loadcondition is overloaded, the UE directly determines that a measurementneeds to be performed; otherwise, the UE further judges the relationshipbetween the services supported by the network side and the services ofthe UE according to the received service-related indication information,and determines whether a measurement needs to be performed or notaccording to the preset policy in view of the relationship. The specificdetermination based on the service-related indication information isimplemented in the same manner as that in Embodiment 2, so the detailsare not described herein again.

The above process considers both the load condition of the network sideand the service-related indication information, thereby further ensuringthat the UE only performs a measurement process when it is needed.Therefore, the measurement frequency for the UE is further reduced, theUE is enabled to measure pertinently, and the impact of the measurementon the performance of the UE is also lowered.

Moreover, in order to further reduce the measurement frequency for theUE, a measurement period is set. In step 102, after determining that ameasurement needs to be performed, the UE may perform the measurementprocess after the measurement period expires. The measurement period isset according to the actual requirements, for example, according toservice differentiation conditions. Specifically, as for real-timeservices, the measurement period is set relatively short, while as fornon-real-time services, the measurement period is set relatively longer.Optionally, the measurement period may be set according to loadconditions. For example, when the network load condition is satisfied,the measurement period is set relatively long. When the network load israther large, the measurement period is set relatively short to ensurethe real-time availability of the measurement result.

The measurement period may also be set based on information about theUE, such as electric quantity, discontinuous reception (DRX), movingspeed, and quality of service (QoS) of the UE. For example, when theelectric quantity of the UE is sufficient, the measurement can beperformed for more times, so that the measurement period is setrelatively long; while when the electric quantity is insufficient, themeasurement should be reduced to the utmost extent, so that themeasurement period is set relatively long. The measurement period mayalso be set according to the DRX period. If the DRX period is ratherlong, the measurement period is set relatively long; otherwise, themeasurement period is set relatively long. Moreover, as the position ofthe UE changes rapidly under a high-speed movement, if the UE movesfast, the measurement period needs to be set relatively short;otherwise, the measurement period is set relatively long. In addition,when the measurement period is set according to the QoS, since thereal-time adjustment is performed on services with high QoSrequirements, the measurement period needs to be set relatively short;otherwise, the measurement period is set relatively long.

What is described above is only one example of the correspondingrelationship between the measurement period and various influencingfactors. In different application scenarios, the measurement period maybe reset according to the above different relationship between theinfluencing factors and the measurement period.

Moreover, the UE may be set to perform the measurement before initiatingan uplink connection, rather than performing the measurement directlyafter determining that the measurement needs to be performed.Correspondingly, in step 103, the UE sends the measurement result to thenetwork side through uplink connection signaling associated with theuplink connection, and certainly other sending manners may also beadopted.

The above two processes further reduce the measurement frequency for theUE, ensure the UE to measure pertinently, and lower the impact of themeasurement on the performance of the UE.

Furthermore, in order to reduce the report frequency of the UE, a reportcriterion may be set for the UE. Thus, in step 103, the UE firstdetermines whether the report criterion is currently satisfied or notbefore sending the measurement result to the network side, and thensends the measurement result only after the report criterion iscurrently satisfied. The report criterion may be a set report thresholdor report period, and the report criterion may be determined by thenetwork side and then delivered to the UE.

In the above processing solution, if the network side requires all theUEs to perform measurements, the indication information may be directlynotified to the UEs through broadcasting. If the network side onlyrequires UEs with certain properties to perform measurements, theindication information only needs to be notified to such UEs. Moreover,if the network side sends the indication information throughbroadcasting, it needs to notify which UEs are required to performmeasurements according to the indication information, or notify whichUEs are not required to perform measurements. The above process isusually implemented by adding ID information of the UEs in a broadcastmessage. If the network side notifies the UEs through signaling, thesignaling is respectively sent to the UEs.

However, in practice, a plurality of UEs similar to each other may existin one network, for example, some UEs may share the same usersubscription information such as user level and payment, some UEs havenearly the same moving speed, and some UEs have the same QoSrequirements. In view of the above characteristics of the network, UEgroups are further configured in this embodiment of the presentinvention based on the following factors including, but not limited to,user subscription information such as user level and payment, radiosignal quality, hierarchical cell, moving speed, QoS, or any combinationthereof.

After the UE groups are configured, the network side only needs to addUE group information such as corresponding ID and attributes of the UEgroup in the delivered broadcast message or downlink signaling whensending the measurement indication information directed to the UE grouphaving certain characteristics to UEs in the UE group. Certainly, thenetwork side may send broadcast messages or downlink signaling to UEs ina plurality of UE groups at the same time, and in this case, the networkside only needs to add the UE group information into the broadcastmessages or downlink signaling respectively. Accordingly, the UEdetermines, according to the received UE group information, whether themessage or signaling is the one that needs to be received, i.e., the UEdetermines whether it belongs to the UE group that needs to perform ameasurement or not. If the message or signaling is the one that needs tobe received, i.e., the UE determines that it belongs to the UE groupthat needs to perform a measurement, the UE receives the message orsignaling and performs a corresponding process, i.e., determiningwhether the UE needs to perform a measurement or not according to themeasurement indication information; otherwise, the UE directly discardsthe message or signaling. Certainly, the UE may also first determinewhether the UE needs to perform a measurement or not according to themeasurement indication information, and then determine whether itbelongs to the UE group that needs to perform a measurement or not, inwhich if it is determined that it belongs to the UE group that needs toperform a measurement, the UE performs a measurement.

After the UE groups are configured, the network side may setcorresponding measurement indication information according to thecharacteristics of the UE groups. For example, if the user is of a highlevel or subscribes to a prepaid service (PPS), the network sidegenerally has to ensure the access of the user, and may not consider themobility of the user, so that no indication information is set for suchUE group, or the indication information thereof is set as: the UE doesnot need to perform a measurement.

In addition, the UE group may further have one characteristic valueselected from user subscription information, radio signal quality,hierarchical cell, moving speed, QoS, or any combination thereof. Inthis case, when sending the measurement indication information to eachUE group, the network side may further send information aboutcharacteristic values set for the corresponding UE group, and may alsosend the information about characteristic values by means ofbroadcasting, paging, RRC signaling, L1/L2 control information, MACheader, and so on. The UE in each UE group compares the informationabout characteristic values carried in the measurement indicationinformation with the characteristic values of the UE group, and decideswhether it needs to further determine whether to perform a measurementaccording to the measurement indication information based on a presetpolicy. Alternatively, the UE first determines whether to perform ameasurement or not according to the measurement indication information,and then compares to see whether the indicated characteristic values andthe characteristic values of the UE group satisfy a preset relationshipor not according to the preset policy after determining that themeasurement needs to be performed. If the indicated characteristicvalues and the characteristic values of the UE group satisfy a presetrelationship, the UE performs the measurement. The preset policy may beconfigured in the following manners according to actual requirements.For example, when the characteristic values sent from the network sideand the characteristic values of the UE group satisfy a certaincondition, no matter what kind of information is carried in themeasurement indication information, the UE does not need to perform ameasurement. Alternatively, only when the characteristic values sentfrom the network side and the characteristic values of the UE groupsatisfy a certain condition, the network side requires the UE to performa measurement. In this case, if the UE first makes determinationaccording to the policy, the UE may further determine whether to performa measurement or not according to the information carried in themeasurement indication information. If the UE first determines that theUE needs to perform a measurement according to the measurementindication information, the UE further determines that it needs toperform a measurement according to the policy, and then performs ameasurement process. The certain condition is set according to actualrequirements, for example, the characteristic values sent from thenetwork side are larger than the characteristic values of the UE group,or the characteristic values sent from the network side are lower thanthe characteristic values of the UE group.

As described above, in this embodiment of the present invention, afterthe UE groups are configured, the network side may constitutecorresponding measurement and/or report mechanisms for different UEgroups, instead of constituting mechanisms for each UE respectively,thereby facilitating the measurement control of the network side on theUEs. As for each UE in the UE group, upon receiving the indicationinformation directed to the UE group, the UE determines whether the UEneeds to perform a measurement or not according to the indicationinformation. Furthermore, after the UE groups are configured, thenetwork side sets corresponding indication information according tocharacteristics of the UE groups. If the user is of a high level orsubscribes to a PPS, the network side generally has to ensure the accessof the user, and may not consider the mobility of the user, so that noindication information is set for such UE group, or the indicationinformation thereof is set as: the UE does not need to perform ameasurement.

Embodiment 3 and Embodiment 4 of the method of the present invention arealso provided, which are respectively described in detail below.

Embodiment 3

As each UE usually has a preferred cell, the preferred cell may be acell with a preferred certain RAT or version/capability among differentRATs or different versions of the same RAT, and certainly may also be acell of other types.

When the UE has a preferred cell, if the information provided by thenetwork side is cell list information, step 102 that the UE determines,according to the received measurement indication information, that theUE needs to perform a measurement further includes: determining, by theUE, whether the cell list information contains the preferred cell of theUE or not, and if the cell list information contains the preferred cellof the UE, determining that the UE needs to perform the measurement.

Specifically, the cell list information specifically includesinformation about neighbor cells of the current cell.

In Embodiment 3, the UE may further perform a periodic measurementaccording to actual requirements. The implementation of the periodicmeasurement is similar to that described above, and the details are notdescribed herein again.

In Embodiment 3, the network side sends the cell list information to theUE, and the UE performs a measurement for the preferred cell, so as toreselect the preferred cell as quickly as possible, thus obtaining theservices provided by the network in a better way and balancing thenetwork load. Moreover, the UE does not need to perform the measurementprocess frequently.

Embodiment 4

Another circumstance may exist for the UE. That is, the UE has acorresponding preferred area, but currently the UE is not located in thepreferred area. The preferred area may be specifically a tracking area(TA), a routing area (RA), or a local area (LA), and certainly may alsobe other kinds of areas, such as a localized service area (LSA) or anarea formed by certain particular cells, for example, an area formed byprivate network cells.

In the above circumstance, if the information provided by the networkside is information capable of identifying an area of a cell where theUE is currently located, step 102 that the UE determines, according tothe received measurement indication information, that the UE needs toperform a measurement further includes: determining, by the UE, whetherthe area belongs to a preferred area of the UE or not according to theinformation about the area of the cell where the UE is currentlylocated, and if the area does not belong to a preferred area of the UE,determining that the UE needs to perform a measurement; otherwise,determining that the UE does not need to perform a measurement.

The information capable of identifying the area of the cell where the UEis currently located provided by the network side may be specifically IDinformation of the area and the information may be sent through abroadcast message. Certainly, the information may be of other types andsent in various manners, as long as it is ensured to be received by theUE.

The measurement process performed by the UE may be initiated on all theneighbor areas, i.e., on cells in the neighbor areas, or initiatedmerely on the frequency layer where the preferred area is located.

Moreover, in order to further reduce the measurements performed by theUE, the UE may read a broadcast message from a neighbor cell, anddetermine whether the area which the neighbor cell belongs to is one ofthe preferred areas of the UE or not according to the information aboutthe area of the cell carried in the received broadcast message. If thearea which the neighbor cell belongs to is not one of the preferredareas of the UE, the UE does not take the neighbor cell as a measurementtarget cell, and does not perform the measurement on the neighbor cell;otherwise, the UE performs the measurement on the neighbor cell, andreselects the neighbor cell after determining through measurement thatthe neighbor cell satisfies the reselecting condition of the UE. Afterreselecting the cell in the preferred area, the UE stops performing themeasurement on the other cells until the current cell cannot meet theresident condition of the UE any longer. In addition, the circumstanceof failing to meet the resident condition of the UE may be determinedaccording to a measurement S criterion in an idle state.

The above processes of reading the broadcast message of the neighborcell and then making determination accordingly may be implemented afterthe UE decides to perform a measurement or at any time before themeasurement.

In Embodiment 4, the network side sends the information about the areaof the cell where the UE is currently located to the UE, and the UEperforms the measurement when the area does not belong to a preferredarea, i.e., the cell where the UE is currently located does not belongto the preferred area, so as to reselect the preferred area as quicklyas possible, thus obtaining the services provided by the network in abetter way and balancing the network load. Moreover, the UE does notneed to perform the measurement process frequently.

In addition, Embodiment 3 and Embodiment 4 may also be combined. Forexample, the UE first performs the determination process in Embodiment4, i.e., determining whether the area of the cell where the UE iscurrently located belongs to the preferred area or not, and if the areaof the cell where the UE is currently located belongs to the preferredarea, the UE does not need to perform any measurement process;otherwise, the UE first performs the determination process in Embodiment3 instead of immediately performing the determination process, i.e.,first determining whether any neighbor cell is located in the preferredarea or not, and if there is some neighbor cell being located in thepreferred area, the UE performs a measurement process. In this manner,the measurement frequency of the UE is further reduced.

Similarly, the above four embodiments may also be combined in variousways depending upon actual requirements, and the specific applicationconditions may be derived from the above embodiments, and the detailsare not described herein again.

Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that, all or a partof the steps in the method of the embodiments may be performed byrelevant hardware under the instruction of a certain program. Thesoftware corresponding to the embodiments may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium.

The UE in the embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2,which includes a receiving module, a determining module, and a measuringmodule.

The receiving module is adapted to receive measurement indicationinformation provided by a network side, and send the measurementindication information to the determining module. As mentioned above,the measurement indication information may be load-related indicationinformation at the network side, service-related indication information,or other types of information, and may include various types ofindication information at the same time.

The determining module is adapted to determine, according to thereceived measurement indication information, whether the UE needs toperform a measurement or not, and if the UE needs to perform ameasurement, the determining module is adapted to send notificationinformation to notify the measuring module to perform a measurementprocess.

The measuring module is adapted to perform a measurement processaccording to the received notification information.

The measurement process performed by the measuring module is any oneselected from a group consisting of intra-frequency measurement,inter-frequency measurement, and inter-RAT measurement or anycombination thereof.

The process performed by the determining module is similar to step 102in FIG. 1 as well as relevant descriptions in Embodiment 1, Embodiment2, and in subsequent descriptions.

For example, if the received measurement indication information isload-related indication information at the network side, the determiningmodule is adapted to determine whether the network side is currentlyoverloaded or not according to the load-related indication information,and if the network side is currently overloaded, the determining moduleis adapted to determine that the UE needs to perform a measurementprocess.

If the received load-related indication information at the network sideis a load condition indicator, the determining, by the determiningmodule, whether the network side is currently overloaded or notaccording to the load-related indication information further includes:determining a load value or load rating of the current load according tothe load condition indicator, and comparing the obtained load value orload rating with a load threshold. If the load value or load ratingexceeds the load threshold, the network side is determined to beoverloaded.

If the received load-related indication information at the network sideis an overload indicator, the determining module directly determinesthat the network side is currently overloaded according to the overloadindicator.

If the measurement indication information received by the determiningmodule is service-related indication information, the determining moduleis adapted to determine, according to the service-related indicationinformation, whether the service related information at the network sideand service information of the UE satisfy a preset relationship or not,and if the service related information at the network side and serviceinformation of the UE satisfy a preset relationship, the determiningmodule is adapted to determine that the UE needs to perform ameasurement.

If the received service-related indication information is specificallyinformation about services supported by the network under the indicationof the network side, the determining, by the determining module, whetherthe service related information at the network side and the serviceinformation of the UE satisfy a preset relationship or not furtherincludes: determining whether services at the network side areconsistent with services of the UE or not, and if services at thenetwork side are not consistent with services of the UE, determiningthat the preset relationship is satisfied.

If the received service-related indication information isdifferentiation indication information, the determining, by thedetermining module, whether the service related information at thenetwork side and the service information of the UE satisfy a presetrelationship or not further includes: determining a relationship betweenservices supported by the network side and services of the UE accordingto the differentiation indication information, and determining whetherthe relationship conforms to the preset relationship or not according toa preset measurement policy. As mentioned above, the preset measurementpolicy may be set in the following manners. When the priority and/orlevel indicator of the services of the UE is higher than the servicessupported by the network side, it is determined that the presetrelationship is satisfied, so that a measurement needs to be performed.Alternatively, when the priority and/or level indicator of the servicesof the UE is lower than the services supported by the network side, itis determined that the preset relationship is satisfied, so that ameasurement needs to be performed.

If the received service-related indication information includes both theservice indication information and the differentiation indicationinformation, the determining, by the determining module, whether theservices at the network side and the services of the UE satisfy a presetrelationship or not further includes: first determining whether theservices of the UE are consistent with the services supported by thenetwork side or not, and if the services of the UE are not consistentwith the services supported by the network side, directly determiningthat a measurement needs to be performed; otherwise, further determininga relationship between the services of the UE and the services supportedby the network side, and performing a measurement according to a presetpolicy when the priority and/or level indicator of the services of theUE is higher than the services supported by the network side or when thepriority and/or level indicator of the services of the UE is lower thanthe services supported by the network side. Certainly, other processingmanners may also be set according to actual requirements, which areperformed based on similar principles and may not be described hereinagain.

As mentioned above, the UEs in the network may be grouped according tothe characteristics thereof. Therefore, after determining that UEs inthe UE group having particular characteristics need to perform ameasurement, the network side may carry the measurement indicationinformation and UE group information such as ID and attributeinformation of the UE in a broadcast message, or notify the UE groupinformation to the UEs through downlink signaling such as downlink RRC,L1/L2 control signaling, and MAC header.

After the UE groups are configured, if the indication information sentfrom the network side carries the UE group information, the determiningmodule first determines whether the UE group information carried in theindication information includes information about the UE group that theUE belongs to, and if the UE group information carried in the indicationinformation includes information about the UE group that the UE belongsto, the determining module determines whether the UE needs to perform ameasurement process or not according to the measurement indicationinformation. Alternatively, the UE first determines whether the UE needsto perform a measurement or not according to the measurement indicationinformation, and further determines whether the measurement indicationinformation carries information about the UE group that the UE belongsto after determining that the UE needs to perform the measurement, andif the measurement indication information does not carry informationabout the UE group that the UE belongs to, the UE does not perform anymeasurement process; otherwise, the UE performs a measurement process.The specific determination sequence and method are not limited herein,but both the network indication and the attribute of the UE group shouldbe considered.

After the UE groups are configured, if the indication informationreceived by the determining module is: the UE does not need to perform ameasurement, the determining module determines that the UE is notrequired to perform a measurement, and does not send any notification tothe measuring module.

After the UE groups are configured, if the indication informationreceived by the determining module carries information aboutcharacteristic values directed to the corresponding UE group set by thenetwork side, the determining module first compares the informationabout characteristic values carried in the measurement indicationinformation with characteristic values of the UE group, and determineswhether the UE needs to perform a measurement when satisfying otherconditions of the indication information according to a preset policy.Alternatively, the determining module first determines whether the UEneeds to perform a measurement or not according to the measurementindication information, and further compares the information aboutcharacteristic values carried in the measurement indication informationwith characteristic values of the UE group after determining that the UEneeds to perform a measurement, and then determines whether the UE needsto perform a measurement or not according to a preset policy. Asdescribed above, the preset policy may be configured in the followingmanners according to actual requirements. For example, when thecharacteristic values sent by the network side and the characteristicvalues of the UE group satisfy a certain condition, no matter what kindof information is carried in the measurement indication information, theUE does not need to perform a measurement. Alternatively, only when thecharacteristic values sent from the network side and the characteristicvalues of the UE group satisfy a certain condition, the network siderequires the UE to perform a measurement. In addition, the certaincondition is set according to actual requirements, which may include,for example, the characteristic values sent from the network side arelarger than the characteristic values of the UE group, or thecharacteristic values sent from the network side are lower than thecharacteristic values of the UE group. As mentioned above, the specificdetermination sequence and method are not limited herein, but both themeasurement indication information and the attribute of the UE groupshould be considered.

Corresponding to Embodiment 3 of the method of the present invention, inan embodiment of the UE of the present invention, if the measurementindication information received by the receiving module in the UEincludes cell list information, the determining module in the UE isadapted to determine whether the cell list information contains apreferred cell of the UE or not, and determine that the UE needs toperform a measurement process if the cell list information contains apreferred cell of the UE.

Corresponding to Embodiment 4 of the method of the present invention, inan embodiment of the UE of the present invention, if the measurementindication information received by the receiving module in the UEincludes information capable of identifying an area of a cell where theUE is currently located, the determining module in the UE is adapted todetermine whether the area belongs to a preferred area of the UE or notaccording to the information about the area of the cell where the UE iscurrently located, and if the area does not belong to a preferred areaof the UE, i.e., the current cell does not belong to the preferred area,the determining module in the UE is adapted to determine that the UEneeds to perform a measurement process.

As mentioned above, the UE may determine not to perform any measurementon a certain neighbor cell after determining that the neighbor cell doesnot belong to the preferred area, and the process may be performed afterthe UE determines to perform a measurement or at any time before themeasurement.

Specifically, the receiving module of the UE receives a broadcastmessage from a neighbor cell, and sends the broadcast message to thedetermining module. The determining module further determines whetherthe area belongs to a preferred area of the UE or not according to theinformation about the area of the cell carried in the broadcast message,and if the area does not belong to a preferred area of the UE, the UEstops performing the measurement on the cell; otherwise, if the areabelongs to the preferred area and the UE is able to reselect the cell,the UE stops performing the measurement.

The UE further includes a measurement control module, adapted to receivenotification information sent from the determining module, startcounting the time upon receiving the notification, and send the receivednotification information to the measuring module after determining thata set measurement period is reached. As mentioned above, the measurementperiod may be set by the UE itself or by the network side. In this case,the receiving module of the UE further needs to receive the measurementperiod sent from the network side, and then sends the measurement periodto the measurement control module.

The measurement control module may also be adapted to determine whetherthe UE needs to initiate an uplink connection or not after receiving thenotification from the determining module, and send the receivednotification information to the measuring module just before determiningthat the UE needs to initiate the uplink connection.

The UE may further include a sending module, adapted to send ameasurement result obtained by the measuring module to a network-sidedevice. The sending module may also be adapted to send the measurementresult only after a set report criterion is currently satisfied. Thereport criterion may be a report threshold or a report period.

The sending module may send the measurement result to the network-sidedevice in various manners, for example, notifying the network of themeasurement result by carrying the measurement result in signaling, ordirectly notifying the network through dedicated signaling, or notifyingthe network through L1/L2 control signaling or through an MAC header.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE performs ameasurement process only after receiving the indication information fromthe network side and determining that the UE needs to perform ameasurement according to the indication information, so that the UE isable to perform a measurement according to requirements of the networkside. Therefore, it is ensured that the UE may not perform themeasurement frequently but pertinently, and the impact of themeasurement on the performance of the UE is reduced to the utmostextent.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE further determineswhether the UE needs to perform a measurement or not according to theload-related indication information, so as to enable the network side toobtain the measurement result from the UE whenever necessary. Therefore,it is ensured that the UE may not perform the measurement frequently butpertinently, and the impact of the measurement on the performance of theUE is reduced to the utmost extent. When the network side needs toperform an RAT relocation on the UE in the case that the load exceedsthe preset threshold, the RAT relocation is performed according to thereceived measurement result. The network side may also perform networkconfiguration and optimization according to the received measurementresult, and make analysis according to the received measurement resultin a complicated environment.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE further determineswhether the UE needs to perform a measurement or not according to theservice-related indication information, so as to enable the network sideto obtain the measurement result from the UE whenever necessary.Therefore, it is ensured that the UE may not perform the measurementfrequently but pertinently, and the impact of the measurement on theperformance of the UE is reduced to the utmost extent. When the networkside needs to perform an RAT relocation on the UE, the RAT relocation isperformed according to the received measurement result. The network sidemay also perform network configuration and optimization according to thereceived measurement result, and make analysis according to the receivedmeasurement result in a complicated environment.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE may consider both theload condition at the network side and the service-related indicationinformation, thereby further ensuring that the UE only performs ameasurement process when it is needed. Therefore, the measurementfrequency of the UE is further reduced, the UE is enabled to performmeasurements pertinently, and the impact of the measurement on theperformance of the UE is also lowered.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE controls themeasurement frequency by using the measurement period, and performs themeasurement just before the UE needs to initiate the uplink connection.Therefore, the measurement frequency of the UE is further reduced, theUE is enabled to perform measurements pertinently, and the impact of themeasurement on the performance of the UE is also lowered.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE further determines areport frequency of reporting the measurement result to the network sideaccording to the report criterion, which further reduces the impact ofthe measurement on the performance of the UE.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a network-side deviceincludes an indication information providing module, adapted todetermine measurement indication information required to be sent to aUE, and send the determined measurement indication information to theUE.

As described above, the measurement indication information sent by theindication information providing module may be load-related indicationinformation at the network side, service-related indication information,cell list information and ID of the current cell, or other types ofinformation, and may include various types of indication information atthe same time.

The indication information providing module further includes anindication information determining module and an indication informationsending module. The indication information determining module is adaptedto determine the measurement indication information required to be sentto the UE, and the indication information sending module is adapted tosend the determined measurement indication information to the UE.

After the UE groups are configured, the indication informationdetermining module is further adapted to carry the measurementindication information and the UE group information in a broadcastmessage or downlink signaling, after determining that the UEs in the UEgroup having particular characteristics need to perform a measurement,and send the broadcast message or downlink signaling to the indicationinformation sending module.

After the UE groups are configured, the indication informationdetermining module is further adapted to set corresponding measurementindication information according to the characteristics of the UEgroups. For example, if the user is of a high level or subscribes to aprepaid service (PPS), the network side generally has to ensure theaccess of the user, and may not consider the mobility of the user, sothat no indication information is set for such UE group, or theindication information thereof is set as: the UE does not need toperform a measurement.

After the UE groups are configured, the indication informationdetermining module is further adapted to set characteristic valuesdirected to the UE groups, and send the information about characteristicvalues to UEs in the UE group through the indication information sendingmodule. The indication information sending module may send theinformation about characteristic values by means of broadcasting,paging, RRC signaling, L1/L2 control information, MAC header, and so on.The subsequent process of the UE upon receiving the characteristicvalues is similar to the above, and the details are not described hereinagain.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the network-side devicecontrols the measurements performed by the UE, so that the UE may notperform the measurements blindly but reasonably.

Moreover, in the embodiments of the present invention, the network-sidedevice may also perform various measurement controls according to actualrequirements, thereby diversifying the embodiments of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a system including a network-side device and a UEis provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

The network-side device is adapted to determine measurement indicationinformation required to be sent to the UE, and send the determinedmeasurement indication information to the UE.

The UE is adapted to receive the measurement indication informationprovided by the network side, determine whether the UE needs to performa measurement or not according to the measurement indicationinformation, and perform a measurement process after determining thatthe UE needs to perform the measurement. The UE is further adapted tosend a measurement result to the network-side device.

Specifically, in the system according to the embodiment of the presentinvention, the UE has a structure as shown in FIG. 2, and includes allthe modules in FIG. 2. As described above, in the system according tothe embodiment of the present invention, the network-side deviceincludes a service information providing module. The UE and thenetwork-side device in the system have been described above in detail,which are not repeated herein again.

In view of the above, in the embodiments of the present invention, thesystem controls the measurements performed by the UE, so that the UE maynot perform the measurements blindly but reasonably. Besides, the systemmay also perform various measurement controls according to actualrequirements, thus diversifying the embodiments of the presentinvention.

The sequence number of the embodiment does not represent the priority ofeach embodiment, and especially that does not represent the best mode.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the present inventionwithout departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view ofthe foregoing, it is intended that the present invention covermodifications and variations of this invention provided that they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A measurement control method, comprising: receiving, by a userequipment (UE), measurement indication information provided by a networkside; and determining, by the UE, according to the measurementindication information, that the UE needs to perform a measurement, andperforming a measurement process.
 2. The measurement control methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the measurement indication informationprovided by the network side comprises: load-related indicationinformation at the network side; and the determining, by the UE,according to the measurement indication information, that the UE needsto perform a measurement comprises: determining whether the network sideis currently overloaded or not according to the load-related indicationinformation, and if the network side is currently overloaded,determining that the UE needs to perform a measurement.
 3. Themeasurement control method according to claim 1, wherein the measurementindication information provided by the network side comprises:service-related indication information; and the determining, by the UE,according to the measurement indication information, that the UE needsto perform a measurement comprises: determining whether service relatedinformation at the network side and service information of the UEsatisfy a preset relationship or not according to the service-relatedindication information, and if the service related information at thenetwork side and the service information of the UE satisfy the presetrelationship, determining that the UE needs to perform a measurement. 4.The measurement control method according to claim 3, wherein theservice-related indication information comprises: information aboutservices supported by a current network under an indication of thenetwork side; and the determining whether the service relatedinformation at the network side and the service information of the UEsatisfy a preset relationship or not comprises: determining whetherservices at the network side are consistent with services of the UE ornot, and if the service related information at the network side and theservice information of the UE are not consistent with services of theUE, determining that the preset relationship is satisfied; or theservice related indication information comprises: differentiationindication information; and the determining whether the service relatedinformation at the network side and the service information of the UEsatisfy a preset relationship or not comprises: determining whether theservice related information at the network side and the serviceinformation of the UE satisfy a preset relationship or not according toa preset measurement policy.
 5. The measurement control method accordingto claim 1, wherein the measurement indication information provided bythe network side comprises: cell list information; and the determining,by the UE, according to the measurement indication information, that theUE needs to perform a measurement comprises: determining, by the UE,whether the cell list information contains a preferred cell of the UE ornot, and if the cell list information contains a preferred cell of theUE, determining that the UE needs to perform a measurement.
 6. Themeasurement control method according to claim 1, wherein the measurementindication information provided by the network side comprises:information capable of identifying an area of a cell where the UE iscurrently located; the determining, by the UE, according to themeasurement indication information, that the UE needs to perform ameasurement comprises: determining, by the UE, whether the area belongsto a preferred area of the UE or not according to information about thearea of the cell where the UE is currently located, and if the area doesnot belong to a preferred area of the UE, determining that the UE needsto perform a measurement.
 7. The measurement control method according toclaim 6, further comprising: reading, by the UE, a broadcast messagefrom a neighbor cell, and determining whether an area of the neighborcell belongs to a preferred area of the UE or not according toinformation about the area of the neighbor cell carried in the broadcastmessage, wherein if no neighbor cell belongs to a preferred area of theUE, the UE stops performing the measurement on the cell, and continuesto perform measurements on the other cells; otherwise, the UE stopsperforming the measurement process after determining that the UE is ableto reselect the cell.
 8. The measurement control method according toclaim 1, further comprising: grouping UEs in a network according tocharacteristics thereof, wherein the measurement indication informationprovided by the network side, comprises: the measurement indicationinformation notified to UEs in a UE group of the provided measurementindication information and UE group information through a broadcastmessage or downlink signaling when the network side determines that theUEs in the UE group having particular characteristics need to perform ameasurement; and before performing a measurement process, the methodfurther comprises: determining that the UE group information carried inthe broadcast message or downlink signaling received by the UE comprisesinformation about the UE group where the UE belongs.
 9. The measurementcontrol method according to claim 8, wherein the measurement indicationinformation further comprises: the measurement indication informationprovided, by the network side according to characteristics of the UEgroups.
 10. The measurement control method according to claim 8, whereinthe measurement indication information further comprises: informationabout characteristic values directed to the UE group set by the networkside; and before performing a measurement process, the method furthercomprises: determining that the UE needs to perform the measurementprocess according to a relationship between the characteristic valuesset by the network side and characteristic values of the UE group wherethe UE belongs as well as a preset policy.
 11. The measurement controlmethod according to claim 10, wherein the preset policy comprises: thepreset policy that the UE does not need to perform a measurement processwhen the characteristic values set by the network side and thecharacteristic values of the UE group satisfy a set relationship; or thepreset policy comprises: the preset policy that the UE needs to performa measurement process only when the characteristic values set by thenetwork side and the characteristic values of the UE group meet a setrelationship.
 12. The measurement control method according to claim 1,wherein after the determining, by the UE, according to the measurementindication information, that the UE needs to perform a measurement andbefore performing a measurement process, the method further comprises:determining, by the UE, whether a preset measurement period is reachedor not, and then performing the measurement process after themeasurement period is reached.
 13. The measurement control methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the preset measurement period is setaccording to one or more factors selected from network servicedifferentiation conditions, network load conditions, and UE information.14. The measurement control method according to claim 1, wherein afterdetermining, by the UE, according to the measurement indicationinformation, that the UE needs to perform a measurement and beforeperforming a measurement process, the method further comprises:determining, by the UE, whether the UE needs to initiate an uplinkconnection or not, and performing the measurement process before the UEinitiates the uplink connection.
 15. The measurement control methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the measurement process performed by theUE is one selected from a group consisting of intra-frequencymeasurement, inter-frequency measurement, and inter-RAT measurement orany combination thereof.
 16. A user equipment (UE), comprising areceiving module, a determining module, and a measuring module, whereinthe receiving module is adapted to receive measurement indicationinformation provided by a network side, and send the measurementindication information to the determining module; the determining moduleis adapted to determine whether the UE needs to perform a measurement ornot according to the received measurement indication information, and ifthe UE needs to perform a measurement, send notification information tonotify the measuring module to perform a measurement process; and themeasuring module is adapted to perform a measurement process accordingto the received notification information.
 17. The UE according to claim16, wherein the measurement indication information received by thereceiving module comprises: load-related indication information at thenetwork side; and the determining module is adapted to determine whetherthe network side is currently overloaded or not according to theload-related indication information, and if the network side iscurrently overloaded, determine that the UE needs to perform ameasurement; or the measurement indication information received by thereceiving module comprises: service-related indication information; andthe determining module is adapted to determine whether service relatedinformation at the network side and service information of the UEsatisfy a preset relationship or not according to the service-relatedindication information, and if service related information at thenetwork side and service information of the UE satisfy a presetrelationship, determine that the UE needs to perform a measurement; orthe measurement indication information received by the receiving modulecomprises: cell list information; and the determining module is adaptedto determine whether the cell list information contains a preferred cellof the UE or not, and if the cell list information contains a preferredcell of the UE, determine that the UE needs to perform a measurement.18. The UE according to claim 16, wherein the receiving module isfurther adapted to receive a broadcast message from a neighbor cell, andsend the broadcast message to the determining module; and thedetermining module is further adapted to determine whether an area ofthe neighbor cell belongs to a preferred area of the UE or not accordingto information about the area of the neighbor cell carried in thebroadcast message, and if no neighbor cell belongs to a preferred areaof the UE, stop performing the measurement on the cell; otherwise, stopperforming the measurement after determining that the UE is able toreselect the cell.
 19. A network-side device, comprising: an indicationinformation providing module, adapted to determine measurementindication information required to be sent to user equipment (UE), andsend the determined measurement indication information to the UE. 20.The network-side device according to claim 19, wherein the measurementindication information determined by the indication informationproviding module to be sent to the UE comprises any one selected fromload-related indication information at the network side, service-relatedindication information, cell list information, or information capable ofidentifying a current cell.